Tan France’s New Kitchen is a Dream Come True | Home at Last | Architectural Digest

hello everyone my name is Tam France you may know me from the likes of next and fashion or query but today I'm letting you in on my most personal project yet the build of my dream home I'm going to take you through to the likes of my spice kitchen my Cottage my closet the exterior interior and pretty much everything in between you're going to love it I promise join me won't [Music] you my family were raised in a small town in a workingclass community I've got a very large family me and my sister and my mom and my sister-in-laws love to cook together I need this kitchen to feel social I love to cook for my kids I love to cook for my friends I love to cook for my family I want it to feel like a communal space where we can be really comfortable [Music] I'm Tom Fox with the fox group and I'm Cara Fox Welcome to our office we are helping tan and Rob build their dream home yay welcome dear I know that everyone says the kitchen is the heart of the home but so many times I hear that and I think you've never cooked a day in your life for me it really is the heart of my home you know how obsessed with are with getting this kitchen just spot on sure as a kid my issue was my mom would cook South Asian food which smells really strong and then we'd go to school and kids would make fun of us saying why do you smell like that I would love to not traumatize my kids so I want my kids to be able to eat and hang in the main kitchen with their dad and for me to be able to cook in the spice Kitchen close off the door and make sure that smell doesn't enter the rest of the house we want to go for two-tone cabinets neutral light Airy but not white light will hit it so we can see there's a texture to it it doesn't just feel flat like that I want the spice kitchen to feel Asian do you remember that geo print that we have all over South Asia the star is there a world where we could engrave it into that or laser cut it yes I will rub something I will check your work that banket area in the corner is really important we can sit around that as a family I know we have a dining room but that's more formal I think it will really play off well with these black and white floors we have a more tumble or more straight edge I prefer the straight edge I pr The Straight Edge countertops we're over marble no shade but we're over marble is is this quartsite court site I love this I love it and it'll be easy for me to clean are you a messy cook uh no he would say no the answer is the answer is now this is a home for my family and therefore it needs to function a certain way the dining space that we have making sure that it can cater to a larger group of people the kitchen South Asians Center their whole world around the kitchen that's where families are really made I wanted to create a home that catered to all of that this space here is going to be my kitchen I could not be more excited about this face I wanted to have a massive stove but we want to enclose it so it feels really oldw worldy and then I really wanted to have a space here a no that my kids feel like they can hang out they can do homework they can eat they can do whatever they need to do but I can keep an eye on them and I want to feel like we're always together and then the thing I'm most excited about in this space instead of just a regular Pantry this here is going to be my spice kitchen we wanted a contained space where we could cook Indian food the fact that I get a spice kitchen where I can close that door cook with my family cook for my family and still have my kids go out into the world my husband go out into the world and not smell like they live in a restaurant that's gold for me any brown person will understand that completely and then this connects over to the dining room this space will probably be used for socializing more than any other space in the house I'm a very keen host I wanted to have a dining table that would fit 12 people around it okay I'm going to bring Tom and Cara in who are going to explain the design even more so should we talk about wallpaper let's do it yes we have a few different options from dour the middle one's still the one I love so much I want to use this as the thing that we pull colors from the Blues in particular I think on this are gorgeous and I just saw this oh yes okay so this isn't actually the finished thing so this is a prototype but we wanted to show you the overall design that you designed yeah so this design is such a typical South Asian design you see it all over India and Pakistan and we wanted that to be incorporated into the house I don't want this to just to feel like an old English house and so this on this in the end will be absolutely gorgeous I'm so excited about it it's so full of character it's so you I I love it okay so this is the spice kitchen the stove is going to go here it's not going to be as big a stove here as it is there which is completely understandable this is more of a utility stove we have lots of shelv Bean in here open shelv Bean just like pantry and also cooking this is my space I am such a this is my [Music] [Applause] [Music] space so I am on my way to the property the build I've not seen the house within the last couple of months I'm actually really excited to have him see it% just cuz so much has changed all the fun things are happening like think of the crown molding in the dining room that so custom and pieced together exactly how he wanted it the flooring Rob has been extremely particular about Rob wanted smaller tiles I wanted slightly bigger tiles I'm just praying that they don't feel too small for the large [Music] space I actually don't have relevant English for this I can't articulate how much I love it well you designed it it's so good it's amazing after we figured out the actual scaling right because a lot of times when you do five piece Crown it just gets so big and it just gets so kind of almost obnoxious yeah Rob was saying is it too much I was saying too much is not a bad thing like it I wanted this dining room to feel just incredible I have this term where I say I want to make the eye dance with clothes and that's what I want in this space and now it does with all of your tools and apparatus in here I can't wait to invite friends over we're going leave those as a I'll that orange thing can be my dining table what is that a ridiculously Siz tool box what is it great that could be the dining table then should we talk about the five place yes I mean we can sure how's it coming along when we get mantles are in production okay we are probably getting those in about 3 weeks so we haven't received the wallpaper for the primary bedroom yet how's this one coming on we're in the same boat but I know it's in production I've seen pictures okay good it's being hand painted it takes a lot of time but they are promising us you know mid-september Chris on the table has he started on the table yes yeah the table's going to be spectacular it's a custom size it's going to fit perfectly for this room your dinner guests will never leave will never leave I only like guests with 2 hours maximum and get the heck out my house get out my house okay I know you'll remember my biggest concern was mini T that's going to look insane Rob's right perfect it's an 8 in and it fits really well with the scale of your kitchen yeah it's gorgeous yeah and I like that it's not too shiny yeah the beams I'm so glad we went with Beams I know those white o beams are amazing still missing that small little be detail on the corner but still missing the stain that's okay that's okay even just this the color is coming creates some warmth to the to the kitchen yeah now this isn't warm this question you're going to get real Frosty him um I think it's prettyy great as it is you mean the customade steel window yeah yeah yeah is it ready or not to but I will say bellstone is sending me pictures daily and it is looking out of this world yeah I mean listen we just did all these the curvature and the glass and some we did throw that on them because once they said we can make it curved like you originally wanted I said go for it but does that mean that the rest of the kitchen can't be done like the cabinets can't done because the window's not in so you're right like to finish the exterior to finish the countertops this has to be in so if it arrives end of September you've only got like 15 20 days to get the kitchen done yep yep yeah all the cabinets are ready everything is ready to just come in the floor will be done this furniture piece will be done it's just a matter of install okay I love how calm you are about that cuz I'm freaking out inside good there is so much custom work in this house hello Chris how are you good to I went to Chris's Workshop to see just what the progress was of this mill work okay so this store is for the Spice kitchen oh one of the upper cabinets yes and it has a treat for its panel it has what a treat and bit that is pretty magical is it it turned out great it turned out great is this the color this is the color this is the final color this is French canvas and this is the Jacobian Oak stain okay wait this is French canvas mhm huh we have a Swatch book if you want to see it no that's okay I thought it was slightly uh creamier are you having second thoughts in the white I my I think my concern is I love this so much and I love the design so much mhm I wonder if this just needs to be slightly creamier so it's not so St so you know this color is going from the kitchen I know to the spice kit so would you want to isolate the spice kitchen and make it a different color that's not too late I think it's wise to do so okay I as long as it's still in a neutral family I think it works so then we can review some other colors something that's a little bit darker a little bit here's what here's my honest reasoning this feels beautifully modern and that feels really dark yeah antique and so I think to just marry the two we just need to change it up slightly I like this family okay do I think that's better no that's too close still I think it's that okay albescent we can do that just take this off throw it away and can I just be repainted have to throw it away oh no you can have it I'm so sorry of glass and it'll be a little mirror but it really I do do you see what do you agree or I know I'm a nightmare with detail but I think it's going to make such a difference you do that Scott write that down got Scot all right thanks other than that I love it so much I think it's I think the design is incredible incredible it's going to be a bit to clean but it's incredible just don't get it dirty I know okay we have the kitchen Hood mantle to look at next right over here here is the rendering of that to get a visual gosh it's good that Indian scallop there is and this texture we actually wire brush this a little bit to give it some texture so when it's painted it feels a lot more age not brand new it's going to look like it's an old piece that's been restored if you will painted and this just to confirm is going to be the same black as the oven the stove yes similar yep now more importantly can we see this upright yes God that's massive wow is that how wide the stove is yeah I'm pretty sure I measured it four times you know the funny thing is it actually looks old English it doesn't you wouldn't know immediately that's from an Indian Palace it's gorgeous honestly better than I ever expected yeah all right we're on our way to the site and how are we on timeline uh it's fast approaching I think the unique challenge for me or for us into finishing off the construction and passing it over to you guys to finish off the design is there are just so many details think of the the kitchen for example everything from the stove and Hood detail to obviously the star of the show in the kitchen the liberty of London inspired steel window it's just this huge statement that you you see out into the yard and out into the valley right and we had it craned in so much work went into that I'm giddy to see [Music] that oh my goodness that window handmade custom steel window oh with your little liberty of London touch right here for tan and ra France and one of the best parts is going to be that incredible view out to the sidey yard with the view of the valley floor awesome like that combo the floor looks so good I'm so glad we went with that skill you know we're ready for the cabinets to come in now the built-in fridge system and freezer system go in here the big custom Island goes in here along with the custom stove and the details Hood right and so in the next 3 weeks we have a ton going on it's going to be um what we like to call fun here up at the France job [Music] site the past couple of days all the furniture has been brought in all the finishing florals and details it's all come together I totally think it's fine to mix Metals I love the mix of copper and brass we have the stainless steel I think the more mixing of metals the better it just adds a lot of character to his space another neat thing about this room is the junk toos of the chairs typically you'd see you know the high chairs on the end but the way this balances out with the high chairs on the sides the low chairs on the end it's just a really beautiful moment the marble fireplace mantle really brings in like a modern pop the space one thing that took so much effort was getting the exact right color of brick in here we wanted it to match exactly with the custom douret color and you see the color in the rug it's not too much but it's there I think it's really important to have a lot of familiar items in a client's home this is a lot of tan and Rob's personal China this is one of the special pieces from ton Rob's travels it just brings back memories and it makes the space personal we want it to just feel like they can just come right in and start using the kitchen we want it to feel warm and [Music] welcoming it turned out better than I ever imagined it could um I feel so happy in this space I could cry this kitchen feels so English yet so South Asian at the same time yet a hint of American we wanted to balance Western and Eastern and I think we've done that beautifully it's because of the small details that really make it clear that this is our kitchen you'll see the little design on the hardware that is again very much South Asian we see it in Moss we see it in temples but it's not just there you'll see it throughout the room I mean the Sienna lighting just that kiss of a detail I think makes all the difference also a part of the South Asian touch is this like this could have just been a solid Square we didn't want that we wanted a every turn for you to see something that feels really intentional which is why uh Chris came up with this which I think is dynamite this latier stove I've dreamt about having something like this for about 20 years you know when you're on social media you see it on Pinterest on Instagram and all that kind of stuff and you see these homes and you just think gosh I wonder who has a stove like that now I can say me bellstone this I'm we're just going to feel that light cuz that is gorgeous like the fact that we get so much light here magical nobody could have prepared me for just how gorgeous it feels when you're in this space I mean it's so dramatic almost as dramatic as I am the Butcher Block I think is gorgeous it's always that Lightwood but but we don't have light wood in the house really we have this shade of wood and then it ties in to that gorgeous custom table and banket that we've got there I think that that is magical and I think that this is the place where we will spend the most time as a family whilst I'm cooking the kids will hang out and I love my kids very much but I know them very well they will destroy my dining room so they don't get to eat there they will always spend time at this table I'm a realistic parent they're going to destroy my house and before I forget um look at that gorgeous floor couldn't you just eat your dinner off that it's gorgeous then I would love for you to see spice kitchen I wanted this to feel like the most South Asian space I'm so glad with where we've landed on this the fact that we've used this dark stain is so typically South Asian but we've paired it with this light color which is not and you'll see we've continued the scallop detail up here you'll see that throughout the house I think it's perfectly befitting in a space like this it just feels like a gorgeous slice of South Asia in the most modern Chic way I can't wait to cck in this space okay dining [Music] room first of all the feeling want to feel like this is our version of a perfect dining room nobody else is we've got vintage chair a bold wallpaper I treat this wallpaper like if I were to design my own collection as I used to many many many years ago I find one thing a print and then I will pull all those colors out of there and that's how build the rest of the room and we had this chair reupholstered and they had the matching blue to the blue in the wallpaper so every turn we've considered just how this room will come together to really tie in the wallpaper and nothing feels like it's competing we wanted a table that could house at least 10 people preferably 12 because I love love to host I love to cook for people yes you could go for a round table I just don't like a round table when I'm at a round table it's too far away to be able to communicate and I can't reach to get somebody else's food and I love to help myself to somebody else's food we're so close to the holidays I want to do a friends giving I want to do many thanksgivings I want to do a Christmas event I can't wait to fill this room and this table it's going to be gorgeous now should we bringing Tom and Cara and I want to talk about exactly how this was all brought to life there was debate about the crown molding it was so much like tug and pull and you know I am by Nature a maximalist so I love love a lot but I think you know we came to the perfect agreement so in a 9 foot ceiling you you have to be really careful because sometimes when you do super heavy molding like around the windows for example and a super heavy Crown pretty soon the bottom of the crown at the top of the molding end up like being really close to each other we don't want that doesn't create incredible balance for the space otherwise it could feel really stifling 100% you're totally right did it turn out how you want it I think it turned out fantastic it's it's not too overbearing in the space the wallpaper's kind of the star of the show I mean you're going to be able to I am yes co-star I stand corrected like super b-roll Co co-star of the show there's so much detail but nothing's incredibly overwhelming it feels like it's been here for a while and it feels like there's there's already a coziness there's already like a set charm yeah we added the ceiling medallions that you know you were involved in every detail of those they tie in with the details of the everything came together and I think we're all really happy it's a perfect balance yeah okay kitchen heart of the home this was I think the hardest thing for us we have South Asia influence yeah we have English influence sprinkled with a little bit of American influence just all these subtle details just added up to make really a unique room this incredible window that was the bane of your existence tell me about it so the crazy thing about this this glass structure is that each piece is mitered and welded together and then hand painted on top of it and then after that we have all these custom glass handmade pieces created and cut and then they have to be individually set sealed siliconed cleaned I mean it is hundreds of man hours to to to accomplish that I mean to me it's like that window is the star of the show but then I take my eye over here the Nook bench the table the island is the Gathering but I mean this stove you could gather your whole family around here they can watch you cook you know watch you do your thing it's just really heartwarming it's it's it's why I do this job is to have moments like that well I appreciate the hard work like you would not believe thank you so much thank you so much this is the most amazing kitchen I've ever seen that's all my parents were immigrants to the UK God I don't know why I feel really emotional all of a sudden excuse me excuse me my parents were immigrants to the UK their families came over to the UK with nothing they lived in government housing government assisted housing my family is still currently working class this was never happen this was never meant to happen to me this whole life that I now have was never meant to happen to me I actually have my family from England coming out this Christmas they're going to stay for 10 days and I the last time I brought them out was a couple of years ago to La this time is so much more important for me because this is my true home it's where I plan to live out the rest of my life and for my family to see just how far we've come is [Music] mindblowing [Music] for oh

Channel: Architectural Digest

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Keywords: arch digest, architectural digest, celebrity house tour, celebrity interview, guest house ideas, home makeover ideas, home renovation, home renovation ideas, house renovation, queer eye, queer eye new season, queer eye season 8, tan france, tan france architectural digest, tan france home, tan france home at last, tan france interview, tan france next in fashion, tan france open door, tan france queer eye, tan france say yes to the dress

Id: 3HClQPqQPcc

Length: 24min 30sec (1470 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 14 2024